Sisters suspected of running brothels plead not guilty

By Vivian Ho |
June 18, 2014
| Updated: June 18, 2014 9:10pm

Qiao He, 37, was arrested Monday, June 9, 2014, with her sister, Gaineng, for allegedly running two brothels and an illegal sex trafficking ring out of San Francisco's Richmond District.

Photo By Courtesy/Courtesy SFPD

Gaineng He, 36, was arrested Monday, June 9, 2014, with her sister, Qiao, for allegedly running two brothels and an illegal sex trafficking ring out of San Francisco's Richmond District.

Two sisters accused of pimping out at least seven women in a sex-trafficking ring in San Francisco's Richmond District pleaded not guilty to 16 felonies Wednesday.

Qiao "Judy" He, 37, and Gaineng He, 36, are charged with seven counts of pimping, seven counts of pandering, one count of conspiracy to pimp and one count of conspiracy to pander, prosecutors said.

Investigators said the women ran two brothels out of residences at 385 Seventh Ave. and 4719 Geary Blvd., charging men up to $200 to have sexual intercourse with young women.

In a seven-month investigation that began in October, men working with the state Department of Justice reported being introduced to or offered the services of at least seven scantily clad women by the sisters at these locations.

But when authorities raided the brothels and the sisters' homes last week, they did not find any of the women. Where they are today, whether any are underage and how they came to work for the two alleged sister pimps remains unknown.

The two sisters were released within hours of their arrest on $50,000 bail each. Judge Tracie Brown noted at their last court appearance on Friday that the bail amount seemed low for the charges they face, but did not grant the prosecution's request on Wednesday to raise bail to at least $800,000 each.

Deputy Public Defender Azita Ghafourpour, Gaineng He's attorney, said she applauded the judge's decision not to raise bail because her client is suffering from breast cancer and needs to maintain daily radiation treatment. She also has three young children to care for, Ghafourpour said.

"Ms. He has no criminal history and she has been very cooperative with this process," she said. "We look forward to having the facts of the case come out in court."

George Lazarus, an attorney for Qiao He, did not return calls for comment.

Although the women will remain out on bail, the judge ordered that they wear ankle monitors.